Obesity and symptoms of depression contribute independently to the poor asthma control of obesity

• Published in: Respiratory medicine 2014-08, Vol.108 (8), p.1100-1107
• Main Authors: Kapadia, S.G, Wei, C, Bartlett, S.J, Lang, J, Wise, R.A, Dixon, A.E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety; Asthma; Asthma - physiopathology; Asthma - prevention & control; Asthma - psychology; Body Mass Index; Clinical trials; Comorbidity; Depression; Depression - complications; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume - physiology; Humans; Male; Mental depression; Obesity; Obesity - psychology; Overweight - psychology; Pulmonary/Respiratory; Quality of Life; Questionnaires; Risk Factors; Studies; Thinness - psychology; Variance analysis; Vital Capacity - physiology
• ISSN: 0954-6111; 1532-3064
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2014.05.012

Summary Obesity is a major risk factor for poorly controlled asthma, but the reasons for poor asthma control in this patient population are unclear. Symptoms of depression have been associated with poor asthma control, and increase with higher body mass index (BMI). The purpose of this study was to assess whether depressive symptoms underlie poor asthma control in obesity. Methods We determined the relationship between BMI, psychological morbidity and asthma control at baseline in a well-characterized patient population participating in a clinical trial conducted by the American Lung Association-Asthma Clinical Research Centers. Results Obese asthmatic participants had increased symptoms of depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score in lean 10.1 ± 8.1, overweight 10.0 ± 8.1, obese 12.4 ± 9.9; p  = 0.03), worse asthma control (Juniper Asthma Control Questionnaire score in lean 1.43 ± 0.68, overweight 1.52 ± 0.71, obese 1.76 ± 0.75; p